Close Call

So the fires that started in Santa Barbara last Thursday are pretty much out now! An area that was hit very hard was Westmont College's Campus, which happens to be where Kyle and I got married almost a year ago. Initial reports were that the cutest little white chapel ever (where our wedding was held) was lost in the fire. This was assumed until people were able to get on campus and survey the damage b/c everything leading to it on all sides was burned. We later heard it was spared :) Our friend that took these pictures said it was amazing to see. The fire literally came right up to the white picket fence on all sides on the chapel and stopped.

The fire came right up to the front door!

You can see the fire came right up next to the white picket fence that surrounds the chapel.

Below are the formal gardens that lead up to the chapel

Here We Go Again

Santa Barbara has been struck by yet another round of wildfires. In early July we had the GAP fire which burned large portions of the hills above Goleta (about 10 minutes north of here) now we have the Tea Fire which started in the hills above Montecito (about 10 minutes south of here) and has spread to a large portion of the hills the run parallel to the city. Below are some pictures taken on Westmont College's Campus last night as well as a map showing current fire locations and evacuation orders. You can see evacuation orders have come right up to the edge of the city. While Kyle and I are safe and sound (we're located right by the red cross of the map below that is closest to the 101 freeway) many of our friends have been evacuated and at least one family we know has lost their home. This fire started last night around 6pm and quickly grew! More strong winds are expected tonight and into the weekend. Please pray for the people of Santa Barbara.

scavenger hunt.....

suz, a bunch of friends and I had a scavenger hunt recently. it was a goodbye party for our friend Meg. she moved to Texas. I'm guessing cause she wants to own a home, or she like everything big. anyway, the scavenger hunt was anywhere between santa barbara (here) and Santa Maria (about 50 mintues north). we were placed into teams (different colors), all assigned to wear our team color and jumped into various cars and off we went. each team had a list of things to do or get. the time limit was 4 hours. and the finsh line was in santa maria. so there where things to do all along the route. from building a sand castle at refugio beach, drinking a pint at cold springs taveren, stapling a pair of underware at the Maverick Saloon, getting an ear pierced or getting a picture with a bride and groom at thier wedding (which we did). first the ear piercing. yup I did it. almost everybody did. that included about 10 plus guys that got their ear pierced. pretty funny sight. and yes suzy did too. not so bad for a chick. the adventure was a blast. we all met up at a park in Santa Maria for dinner, then drove to the drive in movie theatre to watch Batman. it was awesome. enjoy a few of the pics.....

guess who was on the yellow team...

our friend Jon. he'll eat your arm if you don't watch out.

yeah, we had to do and find some funky stuff

including a new sports car. only in santa barbara will you daily find a brand new Ferrari with an owner willing to let you sit in the car. or even test drive it around the block. we didn't drive it. but all piled into it. honestly I liked my honda civic seats more.
ear pierced......


drive in movie theatre...


I guess when you get married, you taste rubs off onto your spouse. or maybe suzy just liked my jacket enough to get one for herself. I like the idea that I already had the jacket. at least they aren't the same color. geeeez

watching the movie from our chairs and cars. eating some food and sipping a brewsky. what a great life.

Just Because It Was So Much Fun!

More pictures from our trip to Cancun

Riding Bikes in Carp

Some of the great things about living in Santa Barbara are all the various festivals and events that take place, the great weather and the gorgeous views. A couple weekends ago we decided to take advantage of all of these things. The avocado festival is held every year around the first weekend in October in Carpinteria. They block off the main street and pay homage to all things avocado: guacamole and....well that's about it. Kyle and I loaded up the bikes in the back of the trucks and headed down to the festival where we met up with our friends TaraLynn & Magda. Turns out there's not a whole lot to do at the avocado festival other than eat.  So after eating nothing that contained avocados we all headed out to the bluffs for a bike ride. We cruised around and enjoyed the day.
 

The Beautiful Bluffs of Carp!

Sort of a weird spot for a stop sign.... It's either our tax dollars hard at work or very optimistic city planning.

Kyle showing off his massive muscles! 

We're Back!

Ok, so we sort of abandoned our blog for the past couple months, but we're back now. Here's a little update to take you through some of the highlights of our Summer. So here we go in no particular order.....

In June we went up to Turlock for my 10yr high school reunion. While we were there, we spent a day in Yosemite with my parents.  Below is a picture of us at the top of Vernal Falls.  This is a great hike up what seemed like an endless amount of stairs carved into the granite. Definitely worth checking out next time you're in Yosemite.

In August we went to El Paso TX to see a good friend of mine get married.  Who knew El Paso was so green?? Congrats to Veronica & Jorge Aguilar!!! 

Many of our summer nights were spent BBQing and playing Ping Pong in our driveway.  

In September we went camping on a private beach just north of Refugio (about 30 minutes North of Santa Barbara).  It was a sunny, warm September weekend and we had this beautiful beach all to ourselves until the cops came and made us leave. We were able to spend one night and an entire day there before they spoiled our fun.

Santa Barbara celebrates summer solstice with a big parade down State St.  The whole town shuts down to watch the parade filled with all kinds of trippy hippies and weird stuff. One of the floats was the biggest tricycle we've ever seen!

In June our friends Sophie and Travis got married here in town at Elings Park.  Congrats to the Spiers!

I changed jobs in early August and we decided the week I had off between jobs would best be spent in Cancun.  We had a really fun trip! We took a catamaran out to a little Island off the coast called Isla Mujeras. This Island, 3 miles long by 1 mile wide, has the most amazing beaches I've ever seen! Anyone looking for an inexpensive, easy vacation should check out www.cheapcaribbean.com. 

Look closely and you can see Kyle on the rock at the base of Bridalveil Falls. Yosemite is filled with the most incredible waterfalls and views.  

We rented a golf cart on Isla Mujeras and drove around until we saw this.  The water was crystal clear and knee deep for about a half mile out.  I could live here 

While in Turlock for my High School reunion, a friend of mine took us up in his plane.  The airport is across the street from my family's farm. This is a shot of the farm from the air. 

Kyle flew the plane for a second....it was frightening.  

We are brewmasters.....well we try.  This is 5 gallons of our latest Pilsner.

We kicked off the summer with a camping trip to Big Sur in early June. We met a lot of fun people on this trip and made some great friends. Big Sur was beautiful and it was the perfect way to start a great summer!  

So that pretty much sums up the last few months.  Going through all these pictures brought back so many great memories.  A big THANK YOU to all our friends and family who were part of these memories and countless others;  we're truly blessed!!  

LOTS TO COME..... tomorrow hopefully.

Santa Barbara

we had not the best weather outside right now. yesterday was nice, but today the clouds rolled in. I came across these pictures of Santa Barbara at work today. they reminded me that not all cloudy days will last forever. not sure that anything will last forever. so the good times should be never forgotten. here are some pictures of home, not as it looks today. hope the sun comes out for the weekend.

Puerto Vallarta

just got back from an amazing place in the world. Puerto Vallarta. we had so much fun just relaxing there. got some great surf too. can't wait to go back. we relaxed so much that I hardly took any pictures. kept forgetting the camera in our hotel room. oh and the resort we stayed at was insane. we also met two really cool Canadians, Kenton and Kelvin. both super funny guys from a place I've never been to.